In what changes the regulations for the contribution of the grant holders?

From 1 January 2024, anyone doing an internship has to pay into Social Security. You can read the full text of the law in Royal Decree-Law 8/2023 of 27 December.

The new Additional Provision (AP) 52 of the Social Security Act (LGSS) comes into force, which regulates the terms for enrolling into Social Security students involved in internships or external academic training as part of training programmes.

Who does it affect?

Students doing internships (paid or not)

This type of internship includes:

• Those done by university students, whether aimed at obtaining official undergraduate, master's degree or doctorate degrees, and those aimed at obtaining a degree from the university, whether an internal master's, a specialisation diploma or an expert's diploma.

• Those done by vocational training students, provided they are not part of an intensive vocational training scheme.

Who is required to comply with the Social Security obligations?

The following rules apply:

1. Paid internships: the entity or body financing the training programme will be responsible

The entity or body financing the training programme will be responsible for the Social Security obligations, and will be deemed, for this purpose, to be the intern's employer. If the programme is co-financed by two or more entities or bodies, the employer will be the one that is required to pay the respective economic consideration.

Enrolments and disenrolments in Social Security will be done in accordance with the general applicable regulations.

2. Unpaid internships: the company or the entity where the internship takes place, barring an agreement stating that the party responsible is the training entity.

The Social Security obligations shall be fulfilled by the company, institution or entity where the internship takes place, unless the relevant internship cooperation agreement that is signed states that said obligations shall correspond to the training centre responsible for the training product. The party regarded as the employer must report the effective days of internship based on the information provided by the centre where the internship takes place.

The entity that is responsible as per the provisions of the above paragraph shall request from the General Treasury of the Social Security the assignment of a contribution account code specific for this group of people.

(They will be identified in GISS with TRL 993, Unpaid internship)

The entity that assumes the status of company for the purposes of the Security obligations [letters a) and b) of section 4 of AP 52 of the LGSS] acquires the status of obligated party and is responsible for paying all the Social Security contributions.

How will Social Security enrolments and disenrolments be done?

Enrolments and disenrolments in Social Security will be done in accordance with the general applicable regulations, save for the exceptions set out in the law analysed:

• The enrolment will be done at the start of the internship, and the disenrolment at the end, although for the social security contributions and their protective action, only the days on which the internship is carried out will be considered.
• The period for reporting the enrolment and disenrolment to the Social Security General Treasury (TGSS) will be ten calendar days from the start or end of the internship.

• Section 2 of temporary provision -TP- ten of RDL 8/2023 provides for an exceptional period, which will end on 31 March 2024, to inform the TGSS of the enrolments and disenrolments in the Social Security system corresponding to the start or end of the unpaid internship referred to in the aforementioned AP 52 that take place between 1 January and 20 March 2024.

Price

Until the 2024 national budget is approved, contributions to the Social Security system of students involved in internships or external academic training included in the training programmes will be governed during said year by the following rules:

- Paid internships: the single monthly payments for work and non-work-related contingencies corresponding to the work-study training contracts will be applied, pursuant to section 6.a of AP 52 of the revised text of the LGSS.

- Unpaid internships, in accordance with AP: 52 7.A) of the LGSS, the contribution will consist of a company share for each internship day of 2.54 euros for non-work-related contingencies, excluding the temporary disability provision, and 0.31 euros for work-related contingencies, with the maximum monthly payment being 57.87 euros for non-work-related contingencies and 7.03 euros for work-related contingencies.

Of the daily payment for work-related contingencies of 0.31 euros, 0.16 euros will correspond to the temporary disability contingency and 0.15 euros to the permanent disability and death and survival contingencies.

- In both cases: the share for non-work-related contingencies shall be subject to the reduction of 95% specified in section 5.b) of AP 52 of the revised text of the LGSS, resulting in a company share for each internship day of 0.13 euros for non-work-related contingencies, excluding the benefit. (monthly maximum 2.89)

Protective action

- The protective action shall be that which corresponds to the applicable Social Security regime, with the following exclusions: unemployment protection, coverage of the Salary Guarantee Fund, professional training (a person who engages in no-labour internships, since they do not contribute for these items, will also not receive the associated benefits).

However:

• In the case of unpaid internships, the protection for the benefit of temporary disability resulting from non-work-related contingencies will also be excluded.
• The economic benefits for the birth and care of minors, risk during pregnancy and risk during breastfeeding will be paid by the managing entity or, where applicable, by the collaborating mutual society, by direct payment of the benefit.

• The benefits associated with the temporary disability situation will be paid in all cases by delegated payment.

- They do not pay into the MEI.

Unpaid internships: The monthly contribution base applicable for benefits purposes will be the result of multiplying the minimum contribution base in force at the time for contribution group 8, by the number of days of internship worked in the calendar month, limited to, in any case, the amount of the minimum monthly contribution base corresponding to contribution group 7.

For the purposes of benefits, every day of unpaid internship will be considered 1.61 days of contribution, not to exceed the number of days of the corresponding month under any circumstances. The daily fractions that may result from the above coefficient will be counted as a full day.

To supplement this regulation, you can check BNR Nº 16/2023 of 29 December 2023. In it, the TGSS clarifies aspects for implementing the new features:

1. A) Exceptional period for reporting Social Security enrolments and disenrolments
2. B) Internships initiated and not completed before 1 January 2024
3. C) Subjective scope of AP 52 of the LGSS: Advanced Art Programmes, vocational artistic programmes and sports programmes of the educational system.
4. D) Non-inclusion in the scope of application of AP 52 LGSS of certain persons and right to other benefits.
5. E) Amounts of company payments made in 2024, until the national budget is approved for 2024

 

In addition, the Directorate-General of Organisation of the Social Security Institute has published Criteria involving the different aspects of AP 52 of the LGSS.